127) King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Halloween 2022's Godzilla-Maniapalloza Extravaganza #3...For the Love of Godzilla.

All Hail, the Monster King!

"I want my own monster. Find me a monster, fast!"

Director
Ishirō Honda

Cast

Tadao Takashima - Osamu Sakurai

Yū Fujiki - Kinsaburo Furue
Ichirō Arishima - Mr. Tako
Mie Hama - Fumiko Sakurai
Shoichi Hirose - King Kong
Haruo Nakajima - Godzilla

Spoilers ahead, even though this movie has been available for the last 60 years. I mean, if you haven't seen this by now, that's your fault. Enjoy!

No doubt the seven-year wait between "Godzilla Raids Again" and the third movie in the franchise "King Kong vs. Godzilla" was a tedious one for Godzilla fans back in the late fifties to early sixties. 
By this time, Godzilla was rooted deep in popularity.

In that time, director Ishirō Honda was busy making other monster movies - "Rodan" (1951), "Mothra" (1961),  and "Veran the Unbelievable" (1958). 

So, I get the sense that Toho wanted this third Godzilla movie to be as colossal as the King himself. 

It's in color unlike the previous two movies. It co-stars King Kong, one of the first world renowned giant monsters, squaring up with the King of the Monsters himself. And the fight culminates right at the foot of Mount Fuji. Surely audiences and fans thought this would be a Godzilla movie worth waiting seven years for. It's east versus west.

The numbers speak for themselves. "King Kong vs. Godzilla" still maintains the highest number of attendees upon its release.

According to an April 1, 2021 article, "A History of ‘Godzilla’, Coming Full Circle with ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’" on hollywoodinsider.com, "King Kong vs. Godzilla" sold 11.2 million tickets at the time of its first theatrical release. 

One thing I love about Toho Studios is that when it comes to many of their movies, they really take their time and put in some thought to tell as compelling a story as they can in these monster versus monster movies. They do, at least, in their earlier films which I'm most familiar with. I can't think of a Japanese monster movie that feels rushed. 

"King Kong vs. Godzilla" certainly takes its time as it all builds up to the two monstrous titans facing off. I watched the American version for this post.

The Hollywood Insider article also claims director Ishirō Honda wanted to include a satirical element to this movie, poking fun at Japan's TV industry which would most certainly, in his opinion, use giant monsters to boost their ratings if they actually existed and terrorized the Japanese people. 

And that's just how the film begins. 

Mr. Tako (Ichirō Arishima), the head of a pharmaceutical company, is peeved because a television show his company sponsors needs a ratings boost. 
Someone mentions to him that a giant monster was recently discovered on the secluded Faro Island which is inhabited by a native tribe.

Mr. Tako thinks this monster can bring in big bucks and publicity, and is just what he needs to solve his financial issue. 
So, he delegates two guys, Kinsaburo Furue (Yū Fujiki) and Osamu Sakurai (Tadao Takashima), to find this huge creature and simply bring it back to Japan.

While these two are out looking for this supposedly profitable monster, a U.S. submarine gets itself stuck in an iceberg. Thanks to the submarine, the iceberg collapses, and those onboard quickly discover that Godzilla is right were we left him in the last film. That is, he's still on ice...but not for long. 
Now unleashed, Godzilla attacks the submarine. He then heads right towards Japan. 
Back on Faro Island, the natives cultivate a fruit called Farolacton which grows solely on the island. They use it primarily for its juice. 

When a giant octopus attacks the island, Sakurai and Furue quickly learn that the monster they were sent to obtain is none other than King Kong. 

The giant ape victoriously takes on the octopus. Afterwards, he chugs some of the natives' Farolacton juice and then passes out. 

Sakurai and Furue manage to get Kong on a huge raft attached to a large boat, and take him back to Japan. 
But as they approach the mainland, they hit a little snag. The Japanese government has sent out their Self-defense Forces to tell the ship they're forbidden to bring the monster into Japan. 

While they're forced to comply, Kong cares not for such orders. He wakes up and makes his own way into Japan. 
When he finally reaches land, Kong and Godzilla meet up and fight. 
Kong starts throwing rocks at Godzilla, which doesn't phase him in the least. Godzilla uses his atomic breath, hitting Kong square on the chest.  

Japan's Self-Defense Force digs trenches filled with dynamite and poisonous gas in an attempt to stop Godzilla, which doesn't work. 

They also set up high-voltage wires, which also fails to stop Godzilla. 

Kong, however, starts feeding off the one-million volts of electricity running through those wires which makes him stronger. 

Both monsters enter Tokyo and start tearing sh*t up. There, Kong happens to find Sakurai's sister, Fumiko (Mie Hama). He takes her and then climbs the capital building, known as the National Diet Building. 

The Defense Force shoot capsules of the Farolacton juice at Kong, which again knock him out. 

Fumiko is rescued, but now they have to deal with Kong sleeping in the middle of Tokyo. 

Experts decide to hoist Kong up with balloons and carry him with the aid of helicopters to where Godzilla is currently stomping around and roaring a lot. They hope Kong and Godzilla will fight and ultimately kill each other. 

Godzilla happens to be at the foot of Mt. Fuji, so that's where they take Kong. Kong awakens while he's up in the air strapped to balloons and helicopters. And in no time, the two are fighting once again. 

As the two monsters brawl, Godzilla uses his atomic breath again, trying to fry Kong to death. He's knocked down, but not defeated.

Kong is struck by lightening, which increases his power. As the battle escalates, the two fall off a cliff and into Sagami Bay. 

They continue fighting for a moment under water. But only Kong pops his head out of the water, making it look as though he defeated Godzilla. 

However, the Defense Force thinks Godzilla is still alive since he can't be so easily defeated. 

The original concept for "King Kong vs. Godzilla" was to have Frankenstein's monster take on Godzilla. That's not a typo. Frankenstein's monster! According to a 2014 article in HorrorHound magazine, Kong creator Willis O'Brien wanted to put the great ape against a monster created by Dr. Frankenstein. 

Toho later dropped Kong in Frankenstein's place. Hence, the reason electricity gives him power. That was written for Frankenstein, and they left that plot point in the movie. Why not?

After "King Kong vs. Godzilla," Toho had permission from RKO Pictures to use Kong for the next few years. Their permission carried into 1967 when Toho released "King Kong Escapes."

Toho had plans to use Kong in the Godzilla movie, "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep" (1966). I'll get to that movie later.

This movie is loaded with constant cuts to a news broadcast that works as exposition to tell the audience what they're already watching. All these news breaks are distracting and annoying. I understand that the writers are trying to make the story feel real, and tell it in real time. 

At times, the camera work and special effects are reduced to a simple green screen and a puppet show. Scenes with Kong and Godzilla fighting off in a distance make me think a kid is hiding behind the sets and banging two action figures together to simulate fighting. 

This movie veers the Godzilla franchise slightly into the realm of true campiness, which I know sounds funny to say as I'm talking about a film starting two actors in monster suites attacking each other. The campiness stems from the acting which seems just a bit more slapstick and goofy than before. 

The first two movies take themselves rather seriously. Considering that they carry Japan's point of view with nuclear warfare, this is understandable. 

As far as the fight scenes go, it seems that's where the majority of the attention goes to. Kudos to Shoichi Hirose, who plays Kong, for managing to flip Godzilla (Haruo Nakajima) over his back. That truly deserves to be mentioned. There's also a scene where Godzilla dropkicks Kong right in the chest. 

Little did people back in 1962 know that a rematch between these two titans wouldn't take place for another sixty years with 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong." By the way, that movie sold 390,000 tickets during the first three days of its release in Japan. I'm anxious to talk about that movie. but it'll have to wait.

"King Kong vs. Godzilla" maintains the style of the previous films. It's a movie worth experiencing for its own sake. It certainly is one of the most renowned monster crossover films in sci-fi horror movie history.